Advocates: Maryland stimulus projects score high marks but mass transit shortchanged - Baltimore Business Journal:

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But better roads and more capacithy aren’t the only answer, and Maryland’e state and congressional leaders need to put more emphasiszon — and more money toward — building communities and improver transit options going forward, transportation advocatea said Monday. “Transportation, in and of should not be seenby itself,” Otis Rolley, CEO of the , said at a presas conference Monday at what’ss been called the “Highway to in West Baltimore.
Maryland has committed $210 milliob of its share of federal stimulus funds for systempreservation — fixing up highways and roads that have fallen into disrepair, according to a Smart Growtu America report on the state’s use of Americamn Recovery and Reinvestment Act spending. That’s transportation advocates said, but state and federalp legislators need to refocus their efforts on transitand community-buildinyg as Congress seeks to reauthorize the federak transportation bill released in draft form earlier this It’s that bill that determines how the statr doles out its federal dollarsa for transportation projects.
“Id done right, this reauthorization bill could open the door to a transportatiohn process that createstransportation choices, local jobs, and a healthierd economy,” Rolley said. Members of the , whichb includes Rolley’s group, want to see much more emphasiss placed on the role transportation options like the proposefd Red Line in Baltimore City will have in thecommunities they’rre located. To reinforce its the group held its press conferenc onthe so-called “Highway to along Route 40 in West Baltimor e as cars whizzed past, tractor trailers buzzed by and ambulance sirens’ wailed.
Speakers’ voices were often drowned out as they reflectec on the stubof highway, envisione decades ago as a way to connect Interstates 70 and 83 throug h downtown Baltimore. The section of concretd and steel, the only portion of the connector rout builtin Baltimore, is set to be torn down with $3 milliomn in stimulus funding. In its place, the transportation advocates envisiob reconnecting the neighborhoods north and soutu ofRoute 40, creating more parking for the West Baltimore MARC statiom nearby, and eventually stimulating a much larger transit-oriented development to replac e what some neighbors call a Berlin Wall in West “We’re standing here at the site of a tremendous transportatio n injustice,” coalition member Dan Pontious, executived director of the , said at the news conference.
“Thise site showcases how federa transportation funds can be used not just to improver ourtransportation system, but to improve our communities.” The federap transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU, maps out how the federalo transportation department directs money towardf state transportation projects. That system has been skewed heavilyg toward new roadsand highways, to the exclusioj of new transit options, said Dru Schmidt-Perkins, executiv director of . That’s emphasized in how the federall government has allocated money fromthe $787 billion federal stimulus money. To qualify, the projects had to be or far enough along to put outfor bids.
None of Maryland’ s transit projects were at that stage, including the Red and were therefore left out of the She encouraged state leaders to move those projectsd ahead as quickly as possible so they mighrt be eligible for funding if another stimulus billis approved. She also hopesa the reauthorized transportation bill willensure state’ss get more money for transity projects than they have in the past and will encourager Maryland’s leaders to think about thosse options as part of their larger transportation “The decisions we make today will determinwe the transportation legacy we leave our children,” Schmidt-Perkin said.